He's Hopelessly in Love Amid a Sea of Hate

This novel's title was changed after completion as an anti-piracy measure. Its setting and story are unrelated to other works.

[Note: This still needs polishing. I tried a new input method and haven't gotten used to it yet, so there are quite a few typos.]

Cool, seductive family head x gloomy, lovesick big shot from Beijing's elite circle

A love that ends in heartbreak | Reunited after a breakup

*

Five years after their breakup, Xie Yao never imagined she would see Qin Hechuan again.

At the funeral of the former Mr. Qin, her new secretary held an umbrella beside her. Standing beneath it, she lifted her eyes and gazed at her old flame from afar.

His tall, straight figure, black suit embroidered with cranes, and deep, dark eyes: everything was just as it had been back then, except for the piercing hostility in his gaze when he looked at her.

She looked away, making it clear she wanted no further entanglement.

But,

Outside the door, the news that she was seeking a husband had just caused a stir in their circle.

Inside, she was backed up against the wall.

Beside her ear, Qin Hechuan's voice was sinister and gritted with anger. "Can your body do it with someone else?"

*

The night they signed the agreement.

After five years without intimacy, both of them were awkward and out of practice.

Moonlight streamed through the shadowy room. A sheen of moisture covered the man's sharply defined abs.

As soon as he entered her, Xie Yao instinctively tried to rise and pull away.

But the moment she moved, a pair of long-fingered hands pressed down on her waist, pinning her back with an irresistible force...

The words slipping from his lips sounded pleasant enough, as if he were submitting, but his movements didn't hesitate for a moment.

It was as though he were saying:

"Please love me."

Xie Yao ignored him completely, but she couldn't hold back.

As she lay on top of him, catching her breath, she heard him ask, "When are we getting our marriage license?"

After a few seconds, she lowered her lashes, nonchalant. "Depends on how you behave."

*

Xie Yao: Breathe.

Qin Hechuan: Does A-Yao hate me? Does she think I'm dirty?

Qin Hechuan: A-Yao likes this face best. Look at it. Has it changed?

Qin Hechuan: I don't want to have children with A-Yao. They'd only take her away from me. A-Yao is mine, and can only be mine.

Xie Yao: I'll have the baby, and it'll take my surname, Xie.

I offer you the loyalty of someone who has never had a faith.

Jorge Luis Borges

(Blurb updated on November 14, 2025. Copies have been preserved.)

[Reading Guide]

1. One male and one female lead, one-on-one romance, absolutely no infidelity, happy ending, instinctive attraction.

2. At first, the female lead feels nothing but hatred for the male lead because of a misunderstanding. The male lead has always loved her, and there's a reason for that.

3. The male lead is insane, dark and good at pretending otherwise, with separation anxiety, but extremely handsome.

4. The female lead really does have a family business to inherit.

5. Both leads are powerful, and the female lead has never fallen from her pedestal.

6. Lots of original worldbuilding, a wealthy family setting, somewhat classical diction, and some ensemble cast elements. Drop it if it's not your thing.

New novel from the author's page, completed

The author's new novel "Flowers Bloom on a Sickbed" is complete. Add it to your list if you're interested~

A-Man first met Mr. Zhou in the teachers' dormitory at her high school.

It was raining heavily that day. She folded up her umbrella and looked at the refined figure waiting outside. After hesitating for a moment, she invited him in.

The room was bare, and the tea was even worse.

Through the curling steam, the man sitting in the chair asked, "Your name is Nan Xixue?"

Not knowing why he asked, she nodded gently. "After Auntie Ruan adopted me, she heard I didn't have a name and gave me this one."

When they parted, it was still raining.

Mr. Zhou's voice carried a hint of coolness after the rain as he said slowly, "Last night I slept drunk beneath the moon over the western shore. Tonight I fish alone by the snow in the southern stream. It's a lovely name."

Only later did she learn from her adoptive mother that Mr. Zhou's given name was Zhou Puyue.

What a coincidence.

When they met again in the capital, Mr. Zhou received a letter entrusting someone to his care.

By the time he found A-Man, she was surrounded by the vast river and sea, freezing to the bone, clutching an urn with half her body submerged.

He didn't ask why. He simply took her in, arranged everything for her under the pretext of caring for her as his ward and helping her recover, and kept her away from anything that might let her hurt herself.

People said Mr. Zhou was raising her like a caged bird,

while she treated Mr. Zhou like a ladder to the clouds.

They also said she was lucky, since she was the first bird Mr. Zhou had ever kept.

After hearing this, she asked him, "Am I your bird?"

He fell silent for a few seconds, then smiled and asked her in return, "Do you know what a bird is like?"

She didn't.

That night, his long-fingered hand soaked and wrinkled, his heavy gaze pressing down on her.

She never dared mention being a bird again.

Later, he really did tell her, "A-Man, think of me as your ladder to the clouds."

[Little Story]

The entire second basement level of Pinebrook Villa on Qixia Mountain was off-limits. Only Mr. Zhou's fingerprint could open it.

Later, A-Man moved in.

Mr. Zhou locked her in there.

A-Man liked walking barefoot around the villa, so Mr. Zhou covered the floors throughout the house with plush carpet. But remembering her two previous attempts, he also put a pair of bell bracelets around her ankles. Every step made them ring.

To keep her from imagining she could leave his world again without a sound.

Theme: Sincere love can make people better.